Behind the Greenhouse
by mrs. mufin man
Summary: It's the end of the seventh year. a time for new beginings, and love? can Lilly really like the guy who has teased her for the past seven years?


Lilly rushed down the steps with her arms held wide. A bright smile lit her face as she practically ran across the lawn. It was over, the NEWTS, all the craziness of Hogwarts, being treated as a child. Not that wizarding school hadn't been fun; compared to the regular schools her muggle-born friends had told her about, Hogwarts was like heaven. It was just that her whole life lay in front of her. She could control everything. She could have an exciting career, maybe as an auror. They were in high demand. But she didn't have to think about that yet, she had all summer.

Down at the lake she met up with her friends Margaret and Katie. She had met them in first year and they had become fast friends within the week. She'd always heard that friendships like that never lasted, but no one had ever convinced her that Katie and Margaret were going anywhere, until now. Katie was heading off to France, unsure of when she was coming back. She was going to attend a wizarding school of language there. She had always wanted to be an ambassador, in the wizarding world of course, and she felt that actually knowing the languages was more intimate and efficient than having a translator.

Margaret didn't know what she was going to do. Her family lived in Scotland and she was going to stay with them for the summer while she made her "extreme plan". She thought life plan sounded much too boring and she had been using the phrase since their teachers had started going crazy in fifth year about the OWL's and, afterwards, the NEWT's. She wasn't ready to throw herself into anything yet. Unlike Katie, she was content to sit and wait for something meaningful to come to her. She highly doubted anything would, but she thought it was worth a try.

As Lilly slowed to a walk and gazed at her friends, she felt the familiar catch in her throat that so often came with the end of the school year and all its good-bye's. Katie glanced around and spotted her, poking Margaret in the ribs. They both waved enthusiastically at Lilly who had resumed to her usual cheerful self.

"Oh my God," she cried as the flopped down next to her friends. "It's over, I never have to worry about a test again!"

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that," responded Margaret. "I hear the auror test is pretty much impossible. If you're still going to actually do that. At least it sounds exciting, much better than learning languages." She smiled at Katie and gave her a teasing nudge.

"Well at least I'm actually doing something," said Katie indignantly. Then she smiled and nudged her friends in return. "You on the other hand have hardly talked at all about a career," she said, raising her eyebrows at Lilly.

Lilly sighed as she took off her shoes and pealed away her socks, dipping her feet in the cool lake. "I have no idea. Well actually I do, but being an auror sounds so far fetched."

"I've known plenty of aurors," replied Margaret reassuringly.

"Such as?"

"Well there's…OK whatever. The point is, it's not impossible, you just have to be smart. Oh wait, you're out of the running."

"Shut up," said Lilly putting an expression of mock hatred on her face.

"No, Margaret's right Lilly. It's not like you're trying to achieve something out of the question. Just give it a chance. You have the whole summer, and you don't have to leave home right away. My parents have been sending me tearful letters about missing their little baby and how if I leave they'll die. If you're parents are anywhere near as attached as mine are, you're home free. Mind the pun." Katie giggled to herself but turned it into a cough when she saw the exasperated looks on her friends' faces.

Lilly lay back in the grass. They were right, she still had a week free of classes and she had the whole summer to think things over. Her future wasn't that pressing. Suddenly the three heard a loud bang behind them. Lilly jumped to her feet while Katie and Margaret rose more slowly behind her. Another bang quickly followed and then there was a burst of laughter. It was coming from the other side of the green houses. Lilly rushed over with her friends close at her heels.

'If it's that James Potter again," Lilly thought menacingly. The girls had started drooling over him in third year, laughing at even his cruelest jokes. But not Lilly. She had had enough of this arrogant jerk. She had seen him embarrass and torment his fellow students too many times.

'I don't even know if it's him,' she told herself reasonably. 'But you know it is,' a harsh voice answered. She knew it wasn't fair to suppose it was him, but it always _was_ him.

The three of them finally rounded the greenhouses and shoved their way past a couple of guffawing third years. It was James, just as Lilly had expected. He was hanging that disgusting boy Snape up in the air by his ankle.

"Put him down," shouted Lilly storming over to James and giving him a shove.

"Lilly," Katie warned softly. "Just let it go." Lilly glared at her than returned her harsh gaze to Potter.

"I will if you go out with me Evans." That was another annoying thing about James. He had been asking her out since the fourth year.

"You think I'd go out with a creep like you," she demanded angrily. "Now put him down!"

"I don't need your help you filthy mud-blood," Snape growled. The gathered students gasped, but Lilly ignored the insult keeping her fiery eyes intent on James.

"Apologize to her right now," he said quietly, taking a step towards the dangling boy.

"Apologize," Lilly asked. "You better start apologizing James. I'd look around and see whose doing the physical damage here."

"Oh come on Evans," he said, a smile swiftly returning to his handsome face. He rested his hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her towards him. All he received was a slap and another shocked gasp from the teenagers around them.

"That's all you're getting from me," she whispered angrily and she stalked away, leaving James staring after her with one hand covering the red hand print that was forming on his face

"Lilly," moaned Margaret. "He's so cute!" Lilly glared at her and she immediately shut her mouth. "Fine, he's a jerk, but you didn't have to slap him."

"What did you want me to do," she asked angrily. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.

Katie wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Hey," she said. "It's no big deal. This guy shouldn't mean anything to you."

"That's just it," Lilly responded quietly. "He shouldn't, but he does. Whenever I see him in the halls, I can just feel myself blushing. It's like I like him, but I can't, I won't!" She ended at a near shout and Katie and Margaret shushed her as they headed back to the lake. "He seems so smart and funny, but then there's that arrogant annoying side of him that drives me crazy!"

"Did you even know why he was doing it?" Margaret gave Lilly a questioning look.

"Well no, but I saw him do the exact same thing two years ago, I doubt he's changed."

"Well if you're actually starting to like him, maybe he has. People change you know." Katie glanced meaningfully at Lilly. "Maybe it's not just him." A flood of sorrow swept over Lilly. Her friends thought she was becoming a different person. Well it didn't matter. They were all going their separate ways this summer. But it did matter. She didn't want to ruin this friendship over an incident with a guy. James's handsome face popped into her mind. She could picture him asking her out on countless occasions. Maybe he had really meant it. No, she couldn't think about this right now.

She looked up at her friends and saw their reassuring faces. It felt like nothing had changed.

"I'm so sorry," she said. Katie shook her head her eyes wide. "I know you think I didn't do anything, and that's how I want it to be. Guys will come and go. You two will be here forever."

"You sound like a cheesy romance novel," Margaret told her with a disgusted look on her face. Then she smiled and hugged her friend. "But we will be there. We do know how to apparate you know."

Lilly nodded. "Do you guys mind if I go find James? I just want to clear everything up" They nodded and sent her off with a threat that if she didn't return with food, she might not live to leave school. They laughed and Lilly headed off towards the Gryfindor common room.

She reached the fat lady and stepped through the portrait hole. The common room was fairly empty. Most of the students were outside enjoying the weather.

'Maybe this was a stupid idea,' she thought. She was about to turn around when she spotted James and his best friend Sirius sitting in a corner. It appeared James was telling Sirius about the afternoon's escapade. 'Wow,' she thought. 'Guys really do have heart-to-heart's.'

Sirius glanced up and nudged James who looked over at her and unconsciously put a hand to his face. Lilly blushed and nearly bolted, but she didn't. This wasn't a problem she could keep running away from. Sirius cleared his throat loudly and mumbled something about a homework assignment, even though classes were over. He headed up the stairs to the boys dormitory.

Lilly sat down in a chair about three yards away from James and stared at her knees.

"I'm really sorry about this afternoon," she said just as James said "I didn't mean to offend you or anything." Lilly giggled nervously and gestured at him to continue.

"He was teasing me about you. He said I wasn't worth dragon dung if I fancied the likes of you." He looked at Lilly sheepishly and then glanced down.

She felt a blush rising up and whished there was some way to stop it. "I hope I didn't hurt you." She didn't know what else to say. She suddenly noticed that James had moved to a chair a bit closer to her. 'I must have been looking at my knees,' she thought. 'How embarrassing.'

James rubbed the side of his face. "Oh no, I'm fine. After Quidditch, you know." Lilly looked up again to see that he was now in the chair next to her. She gulped. 'That must have been audible,' she thought, trying to swallow more quietly.

"I really like you Lilly," James said earnestly, leaning in towards her. "I know all the teasing was probably kind of misleading."

"Kind of," said Lilly indignantly. She internally kicked herself as she raised a hand to her mouth and looked at him apologetically.

"I'm serious Lilly. I know I've been a jerk, but couldn't you give me a chance? I'm not the guy you think I am. I didn't know how to get across to you. I got so nervous I just kind of lost control." Lilly looked up and they made eye contact. 'Loosing control,' she thought. 'I wonder if this is loosing control.'

She leaned in towards him and smiled as she saw his eyes grow wide.


End file.
